Guelder rose

The red berry clusters of the kalyna are one of Ukraine’s oldest symbols – celebrated in the song “Oi u luzi chervona kalyna”.

A shrub growing to 3–4 m, with lobed leaves resembling those of a maple. In June it produces flat white flower clusters in which large, sterile outer flowers lure insects to the small fertile flowers in the middle. In autumn it ripens glossy, red, slightly bitter berries, which mellow after frost and often stay on the branches all winter. It grows in damp thickets, floodplain woods and at forest edges. The berries are used for kissel, preserves and liqueurs, and the bark in herbal medicine.

Significance in the country

In Ukrainian folklore the kalyna symbolises maidenly beauty, family lineage and the homeland – it adorns wedding wreaths, embroidery and pysanky (decorated Easter eggs). The song “Oi u luzi chervona kalyna”, once the anthem of the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen, became one of the anthems of resistance in 2022.

Where it grows

Throughout the country, most abundantly in damp thickets in the river valleys of Polesia and the forest-steppe; in the steppe south it grows mainly in river valleys and in plantings beside houses.

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